Military Technology - Selected Themes

Military Values

If Only the Politicians Would Stay Out...

The German general Clausewitz once wrote that war is politics continued by
other means. War is inherently political; its only practical use is to attain a
political goal. Generals will never be allowed to have things all their own way
any more than scientists will ever get absolutely unlimited research budgets.

Why the Military Does What it Does

Military attributes all have counterparts in the civilian world; the military
differs more in degree than in kind from the civilian sphere.

Ceremony, Rank, and Hierarchy

Uniformity

Huge personnel turnover both in peace and in war

Uniformity assists in administration, allows inspectors to count on a high
degree of uniformity from place to place.

Discipline and Obedience

Nothing could be further from the truth than the concept of "mindless
obedience"

American society is filled with people who cannot defer their own
gratification, even briefly, despite consequences.

Discipline and the ability to obey are actually very high-order mental
skills.

Automata make poor soldiers.

Good soldiers have to be able to adapt, show initiative, and be highly
autonomous.

At the same time, soldiers have to be able to recognize and respond
instantly to situations that require automatic obedience.

Group Cohesion

Makes units more effective: soldiers are more effective if they can count
on support and aid from their comrades.

Soldiers perform not because of their training or fear of punishment, but
mostly because they don't want to let their comrades down.

Peer pressure is widely used in military training to reinforce weak
links.

Mistakes on the battlefield affect everyone

Uniforms and military ceremonies reinforce group cohesion by requiring
soldiers to be publicly identified with the military. Example: the Hair Wars
of the 1960's

Once insect-borne disease was recognized, elimination of lice became a
military priority

Haircuts became mandatory

Soldiers returning from World War I were immediately recognizable

Soon short hair became the norm for men.

In the 1960's youth demonstrated their rebellion by growing long hair

The military insisted that soldiers identify publicly with the
military by keeping hair short

Often there is an us versus them mentality between the military and
civilians

Training

The only way to teach soldiers to work long hours under unpleasant
conditions is to make them work long hours under unpleasant
conditions.

Military training is unpleasant; always has been, always will be.

Modern military literature speaks openly about "stress
inducement"

Rigorous training serves to identify people who simply cannot deal with
the stress,

Comparatively few people wash out in reality.

For many, the military is the only time in their lives they are
ever pushed close to their limits.

The First Modern War - The U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

Technological weapons and innovations

Other Modern Elements

War of maneuver rather than pitched battles; strategic planning

First major war in which balance of power described in terms of
which side has most miles of railroad and most rolling mills rather
than who has the best generals (one could hardly do better than
Lee!)

War telescoped 19th century into four years: started with battles that would have been familiar to Napoleon, ended with W.W.I style trench warfare.

The Last Ancient War - World War I (1914-1918)

Technology quite advanced

airplanes

tanks

chemical weapons

machine guns

Total failure by generals to revise tactics to meet new
technology

Mass charges against machine gun fire. Feeling that one more push or more willpower would earn victory. Allies lost more men on the Somme in one day than U.S. lost in Korea.

Desperate attempts by soldiers in field to redefine old concepts of courage and valor.

Cavalry charges

Static trench warfare

Aircraft

Originally for observation

Initial combat with hand weapons

Machine-gun synchronized to fire through propeller

Air combat probably only aspect of modern combat where ancient ideas of individual combat are at all valid.

The one "modern" battle of World War I

Allies tried to seize Gallipoli to close off Dardanelles, 1915. Campaign a costly failure.

Highly experimental: submarines, amphibious operations, aircraft.

Nearly destroyed Winston Churchill's career.

Allied planners in W. W. II found little to learn from W. W. I trench
warfare but Gallipoli was a storehouse of information on amphibious warfare. Played a major role in planning for Dunkirk and Normandy.